Monday, March 19, 2012

Reader Poll: Canada vs. Ireland

Okay, here's a game for everyone to play. Let's suppose that, for some reason, all major whiskey production in Kentucky, Scotland and Japan (as well as smaller whiskey producing areas) was wiped out due to...grain shortages, political upheavel, national prohibition, whatever.

In this post-apocalyptic whiskey world, the only countries still producing whiskey are Ireland and Canada. Because of...supply line difficulties, rationing, whatever, you must choose one of those two countries to be the source of all of the whiskey that will be able to drink for the rest of your life.

Assume for the purposes of the game that you will have access to any whiskey produced by that country (that you can afford), even if it's not now available to you, so if you live in the US and pick Ireland, for instance, you can have Green Spot. However, while currently available whiskeys will stay in production, no new products will be forthcoming.

There are good Canadian whiskies, but few and far between. Irish whisky is a having a renaissance with Cooley - Tyrconnel's secondary wood finished stuff; Connemara peated whisky - twice distilled, not three times. There's real flavor. Plus Irish Distillers makes Midleton Very Rare - which is a superb dram. I'll definitely take Irish.

After embracing the St. Paddy's Day opportunity of opening a stunning Redbreast 12 CS, I can't not go with Irish. The only reason I'd go with Canadian is because it doesn't have to cross an ocean to get to me.